Pipeline New Works Program

Founded in 2019 by Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire and Chris Lindsay-Abaire, the Pipeline New Works Program has become Cadence’s premier initiative for developing new work. After the pandemic, Cadence expanded the program to include screenwriting, broadening its mission under the leadership of New York Times bestselling author, playwright and screenwriter Clay McLeod Chapman.

Supporting Writers at Every Stage

Pipeline nurtures emerging, mid-career, and established writers through workshops, retreats, and individualized mentorship, helping artists move their work from early drafts to full production. The program connects writers with acclaimed mentors and directors and provides a supportive environment for creative risk-taking.

Pipeline New Works Commission Program

Cadence recently launched the Pipeline New Works Commission Program, expanding opportunities for commissioned projects and deeper partnerships with playwrights and screenwriters. Most recently, Cadence selected playwright and screenwriter Enid Graham (SMOKE) to write a screenplay for Cadence.

Collaboration, Community and the Cadence Pipeline Retreat

Cadence develops work through referral partnerships with industry professionals, as well as from a vibrant local network of emerging writers. The annual Pipeline Writers’ Retreat is a 3½-day immersive residency in the Blue Ridge Mountains, offering writers dedicated time to create, workshops led by mentors and industry professionals, a supportive artistic community, comfortable lodging and meals, and a restorative break from the pace of daily life. Our 2027 retreat will be announced next fall.

Enid Graham is a writer and actress living in New York City, where she is a 2022 graduate of the Lila Acheson Wallace Playwriting Program at Juilliard. SMOKE was produced in the 2025 season at the Cadence Theater in Richmond, Virginia, and How To Save Ourselves, a commission from the Farm Theater, received simultaneous productions from Sewanee College in Tennessee and Center College in Kentucky. Tenderness and Gratitude Number Four was seen as part of the Scripts in Hand series at the Westport Country Playhouse; it received a reading at the Chance Theatre in Anaheim, CA, and was a finalist for the Blue Ink Playwriting Festival 2025. Her play A Long Time Ago in a Dark Yard at Night was performed in a 2022 reading series at the Hudson Stage Company, and her short play for Zoom, Do Not Go, My Love, was performed in an online reading series, also at Hudson Stage. Golden was presented in audio format for The Falconworks Theater Company. What Martha Did received a preview production in the Launch Pad series at UCSB. Her play, Ruth, was chosen for the National Playwrights Conference at the O'Neill Center and the New TACTics New Play Festival in NYC. What Martha Did was a finalist for the National Playwrights' Conference and a semifinalist in the Blue Ink Playwriting Festival in Chicago. Other plays include: Pathological Venus (2020 finalist, NPC), Something Unrecognizable, The Plans / Have for You, and Saint Vegas (NPC semifinalist 2025), and Varenka by Miriam Leeds. As an actress, her credits include numerous Broadway and off-Broadway productions such as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Honour (Tony Award nomination), as well as television and film, including The Sinner, Boardwalk Empire, Margaret, Mare of Easttown, Rabbit Hole, and the upcoming film A House of Dynamite.

The Heart of Pipeline

Pipeline remains a vital incubator for new voices—connecting artists, fostering collaboration, and helping playwrights and screenwriters shape stories that resonate on stages and screens across the country.

Recent and Upcoming Projects

Recent work includes the highly acclaimed developmental premiere of SMOKE by Enid Graham. Cadence, in partnership with Firehouse Theatre, also recently presented a staged reading of Djola Branner's new play, Carlee, which was created through Pipeline. Pipeline's reach also extends beyond Virginia, with workshops hosted in New York City and collaborations with professional artists nationwide to develop Eva DeVirgilis' WitchDuck, which will be co-premiered with Firehouse Theatre in May of 2026. As an Associate Member of the National New Play Network, Cadence will take part in the 2026 Rolling World Premiere of DOG MOM, a new play by Tate Elizabeth Hanyok, recently developed through Seven Devils Playwrights Conference. Cadence continues to develop and grow relationships with playwrights and theaters nationwide.

Meet Your Mentors

Jeni Mahoney

Pipeline New Works Retreat Mentor

Jeni is a playwright, director, dramaturg, teacher, new play development geek and Founder of Seven Devils New Play Foundry, and their esteemed Playwrights Conference, where she served as Producing Artistic Director for 23 years and was instrumental in the development of over 260 new American plays. Inducted into the IndieTheatre Hall of Fame in 2014, Jeni is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and the National Theatre Conference (where she served on the Board for six years). She currently serves on the Board of Open Sky, Fleischer Studios, and Seven Devils New Play Foundry, as an Honorary Board Member. Jeni also teaches at Stonecoast, the University of Southern Maine's low-residency MFA in Creative Writing Program. More at jenimahoney.com.

Bob Bartlett

Pipeline New Works Retreat Mentor

Bob Bartlett is an affiliated artist with the National New Play Network and a member of the Dramatists Guild of America. Bob has produced his own site-specific work, including Accident Bear in the Avenue Laundromat in Downtown Annapolis and Lýkos ánthrōpos in a wooded clearing in the middle of the woods on a Maryland farm and at historic Congressional Cemetery in DC. Bob earned his MFA in Playwriting at Catholic University of America, and he is a longtime member of the theatre faculty at Bowie State University in Maryland, where he teaches playwriting, screenwriting, dramatic literature and theory. He is also a founding member of The Welders, a Washington, DC-based, producing playwrights collective. More at bob-bartlett.com.